Power Rankings
2. Jason Kidd. (Last week: 8) It's been a pretty surreal experience to be a fan on the beneficiary end of Jason Kidd's subtle genius. Over almost two decades of facing Kidd, Knicks fans have grown accustomed to loathing his wizardly sense of and control over his surroundings. All of a sudden, he's preempting opposing offensive game plans, patiently unraveling defenses, resurrecting broken plays, and just flat-out draining shots (6-11 on threes so far) for our own good. We even saw the guy drive in for a few lay-ups this week.
Kidd's defensive presence is, to me, a lot like Anthony's. As the temporary starting two-guard, he's not qualified to lock down a lot of his marks one-on-one. His defensive excellence — and he has been nothing short of excellent — is more predicated on escorting his man toward help and offering help of his own whenever possible. He's been uniformly terrific and a delight to watch. Oh, and even with Kidd as a starter, Mike Woodson's been able to limit those 39-year-old legs to 25 minutes a game so far. Granted, that could change when the Knicks actually find themselves threatened in a fourth quarter someday.
The turnovers-by-the-bushel that have become a staple of the Knicks offense over the last decade have suddenly shrunk under double digits.
As the Knicks are playing to a steady reggae beat, every possession becomes more valuable... ergo, if we do not turn it over, the opposing offense has even fewer opportunities to score.
As a result, our beloved Knicks have also done something unheard of... they have controlled the tempo and the scoreboard for a dominant amount of minutes. Dallas, one of Jason Kidd's recent stops, will be an entertaining reunion as the Mavs bring new speed and yoots to The Garden.
Are we having fun yet?
11/4/2012 2:57 PM
